George W. Wingate High School, Brooklyn

Living
Environment

Summer 2001

Grade Level:
9th-11th

Time Allocation: 4-45
minutes periods

How
can we describe the function and characteristics of the human immune system?

Learning
Objectives:
At the end of this lesson students should be able to:

·Locate and describe the
functions of all organs of the immune system

·Explain the three lines
of defense against disease –causing organisms

·Describe and understand
the specificity of antibodies

·Compare the defense
mechanism of the immune system to that of a sport team or security system

·Understand the
relationship between the immune system and homeostasis i.e. diseases or
disorders

Materials

1.Projector

2.Laptop or Computer with Microsoft Powerpoint

3.Disk with PowerPoint demonstration slides (1-7)

Motivation

Ask student if they ever had one of the following
infections: Measles; Mumps; Smallpox; Chickenpox; a cold; flu. Discuss why the
results are this way. Allow students to come to the conclusions that very few of
them if any had the first three infections because of vaccination.

Development

I:
What are some words that come to mind when you see the word 'Immune System'?

Prompt
students to recall definition of system and to use prior knowledge to come to
the definition of 'immune'.

Have
a volunteer write students answers to complete this web

Allow students to use these terms to come up with a definite function of purpose
of the immune system.

II.
Description of the immune system

Made of highly specialized cells and a circulatory
system consisting of lymphatic nodes and lymphatic vessels.

The
lymphatic vessels and lymphatic nodes are the parts of the special circulatory
system that carries lymph. Lymph nodes dot the network of lymphatic vessels and
provide a meeting ground for the immune system cells (White blood cells chiefly
lymphocytes)

III:
What are of some of the substances or invaders that are targeted by the immune
system?

IV:
How does the body defend itself against infection?

A. 1st line of defense: Involves several kinds of physical and
chemical barriers.

Elicit: Sweat,
Tears, Saliva, Mucus (chemical barriers)

Elicit: Skin, membrane lining body passages (physical barriers)

B. 2nd line of defense: The Inflammatory Response

Elicit:
Swelling, redness, warmth, and pain in the area of an infection. An increased
blood flow attracts White Blood Cells i.e. macrophages, phagocytes and
neutrophils to infected area.

C. 3rd line of defense: The Immune response

At this stage the immune system is fully active in
recognizing, attacking, destroying and 'remembering' each kind of pathogen or
foreign substances that enter the body. This step involves the production of
antibodies and specialized cells that bind to and inactivate foreign substances.

The
variety of antibodies is very large. Different antibodies are destined for
different purposes. Some coat the foreign invaders to make them attractive to
the circulating scavenger cells, phagocytes, which will engulf an unwelcome
microbe.

(Describe
briefly the structure and function of antibodies)

V:
Disorders of the immune system

Describe the causes and effects of several diseases or
disorders on the immune system i.e. Allergies, AIDS and Autoimmune disease. This
will help students to understand the role of the immune system in helping the
body to maintain a well-balanced health state.

Sometimes
the immune system 's recognition apparatus breaks down. The body begins to
manufacture antibodies and T-cells directed to against the body's own cells and
organs contribute to many diseases known as autoimmune diseases.

Summary & Application

Allow students time to respond to the following critical
thinking questions in writing. A class discussion could be followed.

1.Suppose a person's immune response is operating at a below-normal level.
Suggest several possible causes for this deficiency.

2.Why do you think a person can come down with a common cold over and over
again without developing immunity to it?

This
lesson plan aligns with learning standards1,2, 4, 5 and 7. It also applies to the followingperformance
standards
S2a, S2d, S4c, S7a, and S7e.